One in three internet users worldwide is a child under 18, estimates show. Expect that figure to rise as smart toys and all sorts of smart devices fuel constant connection. How will personal data, collected today, be used tomorrow? Answers are evolving. In a marketplace where information is money, privacy should be protected at every turn. Invasive or...
The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors on Thursday, April 25, named Kelli Brown chancellor of Western Carolina University. Brown’s appointment comes after a search — which at one point became contentious — that lasted nearly a year. The position came open June 17 after David Belcher, a leader well-liked by many in the...
We got lucky. By we I mean my family, which includes my wife and twin boys, who are now 16. They have never attended a traditional public school. They haven’t attended a private school, either. But that’s the great thing about freedom of choice. It gives North Carolina parents options, in this case the ability...
Lawmakers, union representatives, and government officials are calling for repeal of North Carolina’s prohibition on public-sector employee collective bargaining. Sen. Wiley Nickel, D-Wake, led a news conference Wednesday, April 24, calling for passage of Senate Bill 575. He’s a sponsor of the legislation, which would revoke what speakers referred to as an archaic, Jim Crow-era...
If my student group schedules a speaker on campus and you show up to shout down or obstruct the speaker, you aren’t exercising free speech — you’re trying to shut it down.
“This is my anti-Semitic song.” Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar said those words March 22 as he performed on a stage at UNC Chapel Hill’s Global Education Center. “I know it sounds R&B and stuff, but don’t think of Rihanna when you sing this. Don’t think of Beyoncé. Think of Mel Gibson. Go that anti-Semitic.” Nafar’s...
Dan Gerlach has been named interim chancellor of East Carolina University. Gerlach was chosen by Interim UNC System President Dr. Bill Roper. On May 6, Gerlach will replace ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton, who announced his resignation in March after months of discussions with leaders of the UNC System. “It is an honor and privilege to...
Persistent questions about the constitutionality of legislation to stabilize the underfunded state retirement system have slowed the bill’s advance. On Tuesday, April 16, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, recommended sending Senate Bill 374 back to the Senate Pensions, Retirement, and Aging Committee. The committee agreed. The bill would eliminate three methods of paying retirement...
GREENSBORO — Community leaders, school choice advocates, and religious leaders gathered at Next Generation Academy on Monday, April 15, in support of a bill to help charter schools cover the cost of getting students to their classrooms. The Frederick Douglass Foundation of North Carolina and Douglass Leadership Institute — nonprofits pushing for education reform —...
North Carolina has been able to cut tax rates in recent years without having to slash state services. That’s thanks to sustainable budget practices. Joseph Coletti, John Locke Foundation senior fellow, outlines several key steps lawmakers have taken to pursue sustainable budgets. When Margaret Spellings wrapped up her tenure as president of the University of...
Shannon Watkins, policy associate at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, discusses her column suggesting that University of North Carolina leaders view the university system through “rose-colored glasses.” Watkins offered these comments during an interview for Carolina Journal Radio.
